Method and apparatus for transporting and storing heavy commodities

ABSTRACT

A production line wherein extremely heavy and bulky commodities, such as metallic bands which are convoluted on reels and weigh up to and in excess of 20,000 lbs., are treated at several stations is provided with a first magazine at the receiving end, a second magazine at the discharge end and an intermediate magazine between two neighboring departments. The commodities are transported in the magazines by vehicles which are movable lengthwise as well as up and down to store the commodities at different levels or to withdraw commodities from selected compartments of the respective magazines. Additional vehicles in the form of cars, lifters, cranes or the like are provided to transport commodities from a preceding magazine, to stations which are adjacent to various machines of the production line, and from such machines to the next magazine, always at a level above or below the level of the production line. The production line may be set up to anneal the commodities which are withdrawn from the first magazine prior to introduction into the first magazine, to thereupon roll the commodities in one or more passes, to trim the commodities, to subdivide the commodities, and to heat the commodities prior to storage in the second magazine from which the commodities are withdrawn for transport to inspecting, packing and/or other stations.

United States Patent Bauer et al.

July 1, 1975 Primary ExaminerMi1ton S. Mehr Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Michael S. Striker [57] ABSTRACT A production line whereinextremely heavy and bulky commodities, such as metallic bands which areconvoluted on reels and weigh up to and in excess of 20,000 lbs., aretreated at several stations is provided with a first magazine at thereceiving end, a second magazine at the discharge end and anintermediate magazine between two neighboring departments. Thecommodities are transported in the magazines by vehicles which aremovable lengthwise as well as up and down to store the commodities atdifferent levels or to withdraw commodities from selected compartmentsof the re spective magazines. Additional vehicles in the form of cars,lifters, cranes or the like are provided to transport commodities from apreceding magazine. to stations which are adjacent to various machinesof the production line, and from such machines to the next magazine,always at a level above or below the level of the production line. Theproduction line may be set up to anneal the commodities which arewithdrawn from the first magazine prior to introduction into the firstmagazine, to thereupon roll the commodities in one or more passes, totrim the commodities, to subdivide the commodities, and to heat thecommodities prior to storage in the second magazine from which thecommodities are withdrawn for transport to inspecting, packing and/orother stations.

7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING ANDSTORING HEAVY COMMODITIES [75] Inventors: Heinrich Bauer; Karl-HeinzDiirner,

both of Grevenbroich; Helmut Eberlin, Wyhlen; Hans Kaulen, Grevenbroich;Werner Pazurek, Grenzach-Horn', Heinz Richarz, Grevenbroich; Harro J.Taubman, Rheinfelden; Gerhard Wolf, Grevenbroich-Neuenhausen, all ofGermany [73] Assignees: Eisenbau Wyhlen AG, Wyhlen; Vaw

Leichtmetall GmbII, Bonn, both of Germany [22] Filed: July 22, 1974 [2HAppl. No.: 490,299

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 399.l82, Sept.20, l973.

[52] US. Cl. 72/250 [5 l] Int. Cl B2lb 39/00 [58] Field of Search 214/16B; 72/227, 234,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,965.2) 7/l934 Coe 72/2512,l62,407 6/1939 Manion 72/234 X 3,032.289 5/l962 Frcdriksson et al.72/252 X 3.596.487 8/l97l Forsberg 72/228 MTENTEU Jul. 1 I975 SHEEI 1METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING AND STORING HEAVY COMMODITIES Thisis a division of application Ser. No. 399,l82, filed Sept. 20, 1973.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a methodand apparatus for automatic handling, transporting and storing bulky andheavy commodities, such as reels of elongated metallic stock, convolutedwebs of paper, metallie or plastic foil, textile material or the like,some of which are described in PLASTICS FILM TECHNOL- OGY" by W. R. R.Park (1969), Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York. More particularly,the invention relates to a method and apparatus for transporting,temporarily storing, orienting and/or otherwise manipulating bulky andextremely heavy commodities which are being treated in one or moreproduction lines. For example, the method and apparatus can be restoredto in connection with the manipulation of commodities having a weight inexcess of 5,000 kilograms.

Extremely heavy commodities, e.g., in the form of reels for woundmetallic rod, sheet or strip stock, are manipulated in a variety ofplants, such as in rolling mills. As a rule, the stock must be unwoundfrom a reel, transported through successive stations of one or morecomplete production lines, and again collected on the core of a reel fortransport to storage or for shipment to customers. Similar problemsarise in certain printing plants wherein extremely long webs of paper ortextile material are imprinted, impregnated and/or otherwise treated; inmanufacturing and processing plants for metallic or plastic foils; infinishing rolling mills for sheet metal; and many other establishments.It is often necessary to repeatedly unwind and collect extremely longwebs, strips or rods of metallic or other material which is stored onreels or spools, an operation which can be carried out only by restoringto extremely complex, large, heavy and expensive equipment. Since thepaying out and collecting of webs, strips or rods is a timeconsumingoperation, the manufacturers strive to use extremely long stock to thusreduce the intervals of idleness of machines which form the productionline. It is not unusual to collect metallic sheet or rod stock in theform of rolls weighing well in excess of 10,000 kilograms. Similarproblems arise when a production line is set up for the treatment ofbulky blocks of metallic material which must be turned, lifted, lowered,inverted, tilted and/or otherwise manipulated at each of a series oftreating stations. It is already known to treat such heavy and bulkycommodities in accordance with a predetermined schedule.

In certain plants, such as in factories employing recent types ofrolling mills, heavy and bulky commodities are transported by overheadcranes and by floortype lift trucks which are not confined to travelalong tracks. The storing of commodities in the interior of the planttakes place at certain predetermined locations, or the commodities arestored in sheds which are located outside of the plant proper. Thestoring in the interior of the plant and/or the transport within theplant presents many problems due to excessive stressing of the floor;therefore, such storing and/or transport is permissible only if thebuilding is properly designed so that it can stand extremely highstresses. Moreover, the

storing of a large number of bulky commodities in the interior of afactory contributes excessively to the dimensions of the building orresults in clogging of the area in the vicinity of machines so that thecomponents of the production lines are not readily accessible forinspection and/or repair. This problem is particularly acute when thecommodities must be treated in a large number of machines each of whichoccupies a substan tial amount of floor space and/or extends to a levelwell above the floor. Attempts to solve the just discussed problemsinclude the utilization of complex convey' ances which commoditiestransport bulky comodities in any one of several directions orsimultaneously in several directions. This reduces somewhat thelikelihood of congestion but delays considerably the transfer ofcommodities from station to station.

In certain other plants, bulky and extremely heavy commodities aretransported by simple roller conveyors which are designed to advance thecommodities along straight paths. Such conveyors take up space and aresatisfactory only when the orientation of commodities need not bechanged at all or when the commodities must be reoriented at a singlestation or at a small number of stations. In all other instances, theplant must be provided with complex turning, lifting, tilting,inverting, shifting and/or other reorienting equipment which isextremely costly and occupies a substantial amount of floor space.Moreover, certain commodities are so sensitive that they cannot orshould not be repeatedly gripped by the jaws or analogous parts oftilting, lifting and/or other reorienting or displacinginstrumentalities.

The just discussed problems in connection with the manipulation ofcommodities whose weight is in excess of 1,000, 5,000 or l0,000kilograms are aggrevated due to the fact that the equipment which ispresently used for such manipulation must be sufficiently safe and mustbe capable of handling bulky commodities without any danger of damage toparts of the equipment and/or to the processed material. This, too,contributes to the initial and maintenance cost of such equipment, toits bulkiness and complexity, to its sensitivity, as well as to the costof the final product. There exists an urgent need for a method andapparatus which can be re sorted to for economical handling of extremelyheavy and bulky workpieces, which can be installed in existing plants,which renders it possible to avoid damage to the buildings, to theapparatus, to the production line and/or to the workpieces, and whichalso permits automatic remote control of transport and handling to allowfully automatic production processes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide asimple, reliable and economical method of manipulating heavy and bulkymetallic and/or other commodities which must be treated in each of aseries of machines which form part of one or more production lines. Themethod must permit fully automatic remote control, including safetyinterlocks and suitable for computerization.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of transportingand storing heavy commodities in an optimum position for introductioninto selected processing machines and in such a way that the commoditiesare accessible to pieces or relatively simple transporting, orienting,lifting and/or other equipment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedapparatus system for transporting, storing, orienting, lifting and/orotherwise manipulating heavy commodities or workpieces weighing in therange of up to and in excess of l0,000 kilograms.

The method of the present invention may be resorted to for manipulationof extremely heavy and bulky commodities, especially coiled metallicband stock or the like weighing up to and in excess of 20,000 lbs., in aplant wherein the stock is treated at several stations of at least oneproduction line which is located at a predetermined level. The methodcomprises the steps of transporting the commodities between the stationsat at least one second level which is located above or below thepredetermined level, and storing the commodities in separate buildingsat the receiving and discharge ends of the production line as well as,if necessary, at one or more intermediate points of the production line.

The method makes use of handling and transporting apparatus withsimplified movements and giving rigid support to the reel withoutgripping the wound goods. The apparatus movements are combined instraight line or star transfer arrangements. The rigid supporting allowsfor high acceleration without load shift. The simplified movements, forexample, only up-or-down and forward-or-backward, permit more reliableconstruction and multiple use of standardized apparatus in the sameplant. Arrangement of transport paths in straight or radial lines,together with reliable construction design, substantially facilitatesautomation of the handling, fully interlocked with the production lines.

The commodities are preferably stored in high stack warehouses whereinthe commodities may be put to temporary storage at a plurality ofdifferent levels. The devices for transporting the commodities betweenthe magazines and the various stations may include one or more cranes,jacks, cars, dollies, turning devices, vehicles which are movable up anddown as well as long horizontal paths, and/or others. At least one ofthe magazines may be provided with means for cooling the commoditiestherein to or somewhat above room temperature.

The production line may be designed to subject band-like metallic stockto rolling treatment in a plurality of passes, to anneal the stock, tosubdivide the stock into shorter sections, to trim the stock, to windthe shorter sections onto smaller and handier reels, and/or to performany other operations which must be completed before the finishedmaterial is transferred to an inspecting or packing station or isintroduced into a magazine for storage prior to transport to customers.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theimproved apparatus system itself, however, both as to its constructionand its mode of operation, together with additional features andadvantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of thefollowing detailed description of certain specific embodiments withreference to the accompanying drawing.

The attached drawing shows diagrammatically by way of example andapplication of the method and apparatus for the almust fully automatedplant for the cold reduction of sheet metal to thin gage wound in coils.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGS. 01 and 02 show a layout of thefull plant in horizontal and vertical section:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the first plant section on alarger scale and shows the material entry for receiving rolled coils ofthicker gage, a battery of annealing furnaces and the first high stackwarehouse",

FIG. 2 overlaps with FIG. 1 and is a diagrammatic plan view of a secondplant section wherein the bands are treated in a plurality of rollingmills and are trimmed prior to introduction into second or intermediatehigh stack warehouse;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatical elevational view of the structure shown inFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 overlaps with FIG. 2 and is a diagrammatic plan view of a thirdplant section wherein the bands are treated in slitting and rewindingmachines and are thereupon transferred into a third high stack warehouseat the discharge end of the production line;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the structure shown in FIG.4; and

FIG. 6 overlaps with FIG. 4 and is a diagrammatic plan view of the thirdhigh stack warehouse at the discharge end of the production line and ofa continuous annealing furnace wherein the bands are heated prior tocooling in the warehouse and prior to subsequent transfer to inspecting,packing and/or other stations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 01 and 02 given anoverall illustration of the complete plant to which the method andapparatus system have been applied.

Sheet metal in coils with rolling temper arrive at A, are annealed to asoft temper and go to cooling into the high stack warehouse 201.

Coils at room temperature are transported from warehouse 201 to thefirst and second mill stands in the rolling mill section 112. The sheetmetal heats up due to the work during each reduction pass and isreturned to the warehouse 201 for cooling to room temperature.

The gage becomes thinner and the sheet becomes much longer; therefore,the sheet is divided by a shear on the second mill and wound on twoseparate reels which are thereupon transferred to mill stands 3-5 andintermediate storage in the high stack Warehouse 2.

From warehouse 211 the coils enter the slitting and rewinding section217. They are rewound to customers specifications and are then annealedto a soft temper in section 207. Afterwards, they are allowed to cool inthe high stack warehouse 216 before they go to section I18 forinspection testing and packaging.

The packaged goods are then transferred by a roller conveyor to the highstack warehouse 218 from where they are combined to form car sizetransport loads and leave at B.

Except for the unloading at A, loading at B, slitting at 2I7 andpackaging at 118, all other operations are fully automated andinterlocked with the processing machinery.

To show the method in more detail, FIGS. 1 to 6 have been drawn toenlarged scale, overlapping as shown in FIGS. 01 and 02.

FIG. 1 illustrates the floor plan of a first section or department of asheet metal cold rolling plant with a battery of three annealingfurnaces 202. The inlet or receiving station of the production line inthe plant is shown at 200 where trucks, railroad cars or other heavydutyvehicles can deliver heavy and bulky commodities, e.g., reels or spoolswith coiled metallic sheet or band stock. The commodities which aredelivered to the receiving station 200 can be removed by a transportingdevice or crane 101 which is movable along fixed overhead rails 101a totransfer commodities from the station 200 to any one of severalintermediate or temporary storing locations or stations 102. The crane101 has three movements: rising or lowering, turning and to or fro. Atransporting device or coil lift car 103 with only up or down and to andfro movement is mounted for travel along rails 103a and serves totransfer commodities from the storing locations 102 into a first highstack warehouse or storing means 201. The commodities which enter thehigh stack warehouse 201 can be conveyed by a floor-mounted monorailstacking machine 104 which is shown as being movable at right angles tothe rails 103a and 101a. The warehouse 201 further receives a turntabletransfer device 106 for the coils. This warehouse can be provided withshelves or racks (not specifically shown) which enable it to store alarge number of coils (e.g., 150 or more).

FIG. 1 further shows a pair of furnace charging transporting devices orcars 105 which are movable along rails 105a toward and away from thepath of the crane 101 to introduce commodities into the annealingfurnaces 202. These furnaces are adjacent to the magazine 201.

The second section of the plant is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. This sectionaccommodates a group of four rolling mills 203, 205, 206, 210 and adepository or station 204 for coils at the entry and exit of eachrolling mill. Two coil lift and transfer cars 107 and 108 which can movethe coils and empty reels up or down as well as sideways are installedat a level below the rolling mills and the first car 107 is mounted fortravel lengthwise of the group 203, 205. The rolling mills 205 and 206are followed by the finishing mill 210 which is serviced by the device108. The reference character 209 denotes a trimming or edging machinefor the material issuing from the finishing mill 210. The rolling mill205 is associated with a cutter or shears 208.

A further transporting device in the form of a straddle or straddle liftcar 109 is provided to deliver commodities into an intermediate highstack warehouse 21 1 wherein the commodities are moved up or down orlengthwise of the warehouse 211 by a stacking machine 1 and can bestored in suitable racks, not shown. The car 109 is installed above anunderground passage 219.

A third section of the plant is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. This sectionreceives commodities from the intermediate warehouse 211 and contains abattery of slitting and rewinding machines 212 located at a level aboveone or more rail-mounted transporting device or lift cars 11 1. Thelatter are movable lengthwise of the row of machines 212. A high stackwarehouse 216 with racks for the storage of commodities contains astacking machine 115 and is located at the discharge end of the thirdsection. a transporting device or straddle lift car 114 is provided totransport commodities resting in iron frames from storing stations 113to the machine 115. The stations 113 can receive annealed material andthe straddle frame of the conveyance 114 is also designed to transportmaterial whose temperature is high.

All slitters or rewinders 212 can receive commodities from a singlelifting device 111 or the rails 111a below the machines 212 can supporttwo or more lifting devices.

The fourth section of the plant is shown in FIG. 6. This sectionconnects the warehouse 216 with two tranporting devices in the form offurnace charging cars 116, 117 which are movable along two spaced-apartpairs of rails 116a, 117a. The cars 116, 117 are movable toward and awayfrom the respective ends of the warehouse 216 and can delivercommodities to further (testing 118, inspecting 119, packing 213 and/orother 218) stations. A continuous heating or pusher type furnace 215 isinstalled in the space between the rails 216a, 217a, and serves toanneal the slit and rewound coils mounted on iron frames.

At least the warehouse 216 may be equipped with a suitable coolingsystem to insure that the annealed coils are cooled to room temperatureprior to transport to the next section.

It is assumed that the entering commodities are rolled sheets in theform of coils having a thickness of 0.8 millimeter and being wound inthe form of coils weighing about 10,000 kilograms. The coils aredelivered to the receiving station 200 of FIG. 1 by railroad cars. Thecrane 101 engages the axial ends of the reels and turns, if necessary,each reel through 180. During such operation, the crane 101 iscontrolled by hand but its operation becomes automatic as soon as a reelis properly held. In accordance with a preselected program, the crane101 deposits the reel onto a charging car or into one of the storinglocations 102. The lift car 103 removes the commodities seratim from thelocations 102 and introduces them into the first high stack warehouse201 where the commodities are taken over by the stacking machine 104 andplaced into or onto empty racks. The transport of commodities onto thereacks of the warehouse 201 takes place automatically, for example, byresorting to a remote control system using punched cards. The controlsystem records the placing of each commodity onto the corresponding rackof the warehouse 201, as well as each subsequent processing step.

If desired, the charging car or cars 105 can receive commoditiesdirectly from the receiving station 200. Alternatively, the car or cars105 can receive commodities from the warehouse 201. The commodities areintroduced into an empty annealing furnace 202 and such operation, too,can be regulated automatically by a remote control system using punchedcards or the like.

The annealing in furnaces 202 prepares the commodities for treatment inthe rolling mills 203, 205, 206, 210 of FIGS. 2 and 3. The material ofthe commodities which are supplied to the station 200 is provided with ahard rolled temper. The annealed commodities which leave the furnaces202 are introduced into the warehouse 201 and are cooled therein to orsomewhat above room temperature.

The equipment which manipulates the commodities in the department ofFIG. 1 performs only lifting, lowering and angular movements and iscaused to travel only along straight paths. This renders it possible toregulate the movements of such equipment (which includes the crane 101,car or cars 105, car 103, turning device 106 and stacker 104) with ahigh degree of accuracy and by resorting to an automatic control system.

As mentioned before, only certain movements of the crane 101 must becontrolled by an attendant due to the fact that the cars or trucks whichdeliver commodities are unlikely to deposit the commodities at thestation 200 in such accurately determined positions that the crane 101could be manipulated exclusively in accordance with a predeterminedschedule.

The storing locations 102 of FIG. 1 are assumed to comprise simplestands or supports for reels carrying coiled metallic bands. It isfurther assumed that the lift car 103 is provided with suitable meansfor gripping the free ends which extend from the reels resting on thesupports at the locations 102. The car 103 is movable back and forthalong a straight horizontal path (see the rails 103a) and comprisesmeans for moving the commodities thereon up and down. All movements ofthe car 103 and of its lifting means are initiated and moni tored in afully automatic way.

The movements and position of the stacking machine 104 in the warehouse201 of FIG. 1 are also monitored and indicated by an automatic encodingsystem. For example, the material handling and the vehicle 104 may beconstructed, assembled and positioned in a manner as disclosed in SwissPat. Nos. 520,6]2; 523,848 (corresponding to US. patent application Ser.No. 269,464 filed July 6, 1972, by Herman Grevenstein for Device forRaising and Lowering Loads"); 534,100 and 536,790 (corresponding to US.patent application Ser. No. 273,143 filed July 19, 1972, by Walter Suterfor Process and Device for the Fine Positioning of a Vertically MovablePlatform in Front of a Pallet Location") and 535,688 (corresponding toUS. patent application Ser. No. 283,371 filed Aug. 24, 1972, by RolfHochstrasser for Process and Apparatus for Positioning a Vehicle"). Thisvehicle may resemble or is identical with the vehicle 110 in theintermediate warehouse 211 of FIGS. 2 and 3, and/or with the vehicle 115in the warehouse 215 of FIGS. 4 and 5. The only difference is that thetransmission ratios of gearings in the vehicle 104, 110 and 115 aredifferent due to decreasing weight of commodities as their treatmentprogresses.

The coil lift cars 103, 107, 108 and 111 are also of well known andidentical simple construction and differ only in the length of strokesof their hoist spindles or rams. Again, the two straddle lift cars 109and 114 are of a type well known in the art and use identical partsthereby greatly facilitating maintenance and limiting the amount instock of spare parts required.

The furnace charging car 105, a stock item of the trade, is mounted forsidewise movement and is provided with supports for the free ends of thereels. It is further provided with an articulately mounted pusherassembly which is capable of introducing reels into or of withdrawingannealed commodities from the furnaces 202. The movements of the car 105are regulated by remote control and its positions are determined inaccordance with with a preselected program, similar to that described inthe foregoing citations.

The warehouse 201 is of the high stack type (see the right-hand portionof FIG. 3) and is assumed to be capable of storing I50 commodities eachof which weights about 10,000 kilograms. The first rolling mill 203 ofFIGS. 2 and 3 is assumed to process lO-l 5 annealed commodities per daywith up to 4-5 cold reducing passes and with the rewound coils beingallowed to cool again to room temperature after each pass. For

this, the heavy coils are returned to the warehouse after each pass andan alternative coil is brought to the mill. In the meantime, the emptyreel is transferred from the unwinder side to the upwinder side of themill.

The handling is fully automatic, rapid and smooth, the turnover is highand the warehouse 201 does not occupy excessive floor space. The workfloor around the mills is free from obstructions and loads by the heavycoils. All of these operations are carried out in accordance with apredetermined program and the code system which is used to position thecommodities is preferably similar to or identical with the code systemfor commodities which are delivered to the receiving station 200, and asalready described in the foregoing citations.

The rolling mills 203, 205, 206 of FIGS. 2 and 3 are assumed to be ofthe latest type well known in the art and having a high output and beingcapable of reducing the thickness of the very soft bands to such anextent that the length of each band is increased. The shear 204 which isassociated with the rolling mill 205 severs the band midway between itsends and the two halves or sections of each band are rewound to form twodiscrete coils. This necessitates the provision of additional reels orspools which can be withdrawn from a separate magazine or hopper. Suchhopper can be refilled at required intervals by an overhead conveyorsystem, not shown. Each rewound coil weights about 5,000 kilogramsbecause it carries only half of a band which has been wound on a reeldelivered to the receiving station 200. Such reels are easier tomanipulate subsequently than a reel weighing up to and in excess ofl0,000 kilograms. If necessary, the rolled bands are trimmed in themachine 209 of FIGS. 2 and 3.

The turntable transfer device 106 is of well known type and is locatedat the inlet to the lower level which is formed by the foundations forthe rolling mills 203, 205, 206, 210. The foundations include columnsdefining a space for the lifting device 107 which is movable back andforth along a straight horizontal path and comprises means for raisingor lowering heavy commodities. The construction of devices 108 and 111is similar to that of the lifting device 107.

A commodity which is delivered by the stacking machine 104 in themagazine 20] is taken over the device 106 which turns the commoditythrough and places it in an optimum position to be taken over by thelifting device 107. The latter transports the commodity to the rollingmill which has been selected by the program and deposits the commodityonto the appropriate portion of the frame forming part of the selectedrolling mill. In the meantime, the freshly rewound band at the other endof the selected rolling mill is ready for removal. Such band is pickedup by the device 107 and is transferred to the turning device 106. Thedevice 107 travels at a level below the rolling mill 203 and reaches theinlet end of the rolling mill 205. As mentioned before. the bands whichreach the mill 205 are halved at 204 and each half is wound onto adiscrete reel. The thus obtained pairs of reels are taken over by thedevice 108 which transports them lengthwise of the battery of rollingmills and lifts the reels so that they can be engaged by the straddlelift car 109 which delivers them to the intermediate high stackwarehouse 211. The actual deposition of reels in the magazine 211 iscarried out by the stacking machine 110. All of the just de-. scribedoperations are performed automatically. The

selected program insures that a fresh commodity is delivered to therolling mill which has practically completed the treatment of thepreceding commodity, that the finished commodity is removed and put tostorage and that the position of each commodity and the movements of allcommodities are recorded at all times. The programming of the operationcan be effected by resorting to punched cards, magnetic tape or thelike.

The underground passage 219 below the straddle car 109 of FIGS. 2 and 3constitutes an underground road for the traffic within the plant. Thistunnel can be used by trucks for the loading and transport ofsuperfluous empty reels.

The intermediate warehouse 211 performs the dual function of storingcommodities which are to be fed into the department of FIGS. 4-5 and oftemporarily storing the coils for rolling mills 203, 206 and 210. Forexample, the warehouse 211 can store up to an in excess of 800,000kilograms of material in the form of coils each weighing about 5,000kilograms.

The plant section of FIGS. 45 is adjacent to the warehouse 211. Itserves to prepare the cold-rolled material for annealing. The machines212 slit and rewind the bands at a floor level above the lifting device111 which is movable in a corridor and serves to accept coils from thestacker 110 and the warehouse 211. Such coils are delivered to thecutting machines 212 which subdivide the bands into shorter sectionseach of which is rewound onto a smaller reel. The thus loaded reels aredeposited on iron-frames which are transported by the straddle lift car114 for storage in the high stack warehouse 216. The deposition offrames with coils thereon is effected by the stacker 115. The unusedremainder of large coils is automatically returned into the warehouse211.

The cutting and slitting of bands in the machine 212 of FIGS. 4-5 iscarried out by full consideration of customers specification. Therefore,the operations in the department of FIGS. 4-5 are normally semiautomaticup to the delivery of goods to the conveyance 114. From there on, thegoods are again manipulated in accordance with a preselected program.The warehouse 216 is assumed to be capable of receiving about 300frames.

The commodities which did not yet undergo a previous annealing treatmentwere withdrawn form the warehouse 216 for introduction into thedepartment of FIG. 6. The stacker 115 transfers such commodities ontothe charging car 116 for delivery to the intake end of the furnace 215.The frames with annealed commodities are discharged at the other end ofthe furnace 215 and are taken over by the vehicle 117 for delivery tothe stacker 115 in the warehouse 216.

The selected mode of manipulating the commodities is preferably suchthat the bands on various reels need never be touched by any claws,jaws, grippers or analogous clamping or supporting parts. This reducesthe likelihood of damage to, deformation and/or contamination of thestock. The annealed rolls are allowed to cool in the warehouse 216 andare thereupon removed by the vehicles 115, 116 for delivery toinspecting, packing and/or other stations. These latter operations arecarried out semi-automatically under supervision of one or moreattendants. The crates and cases with packed commodities are palletizedand then processed in a fully automatic way; they can be introduced intothe warehouse 218 for storage or for shipment to customers.

It will be noted that the transporting devices for commodities aredesigned to perform relatively simple movements along straight or starpaths. This simplifies the layout or the remote control system which iscalled upon to effect and regulate a relatively simple flow of materialalong straight and/or star-shaped paths. Such mode of operation andcontrol renders it possible to reduce the overall dimensions of theplant. Moreover, the commodities can be transported by relativelysimple, rugged and long-lasting transporting devices. As stated before,the commodities are transported in such a way that the bands are neitherdamaged, deformed or contaminated so that the number of rejects,cut-offs and trimmings is minimal. Furthermore, the conveyed commoditiesare held against swinging so that they can be reapidly acceleratedand/or decelerated and transported at a high speed to thus contribute toa higher output of the production line.

It has been found that, even though the transporting devices whichconvey commodities between the warehouses 201, 211, 216 and the stationsof the production line, as well as in the magazines, are designed toperform relatively simple movements (up or down or along horizontalpaths), their overall number nned not exceed the number of more complextransporting devices in conventional plants wherein the commodities aretransported in such a way that each thereof has more than only ahorizontal and a vertical component of movement. With the novel method,there is no need to tilt the commodities during, prior to or aftertransport. Additional savings are achieved by using several sets ofsimilar transporting devices (such as 105, and The remote programmingsystem is relatively simple and compact and insures that the ope rationscan be carried out with highest reliability and a minimum ofsupervision. The simplicity of the programming system is attributable tothe fact that the transporting devices perform simply translatory orvertical movements. Therefore, the components of the programming systemcan be accommodated in relatively small control panels.

The example for the preferred embodiment has been selected because thestate of the art is well known, e.g., in The Rolling of Metals" by L R.Underwood, John Wiley & Sons Co. But also the solutions for the mainhandling problems have not shown any notable im provements over the last30 years. though well documented for example by L. O. Millard inDevelopments in Coil Conveyor Equipment Design," Iron and Steel EngineerYear Book (1950) Pittsburgh, page I75 and by D. A. McArthur in CoilHandling in the Steel Industry," same Volume, page 241, as well as by W.S. Hackett in Production of Aluminum Foil," Iron and Steel Engineer YearBook (1952), page 537.

Especially the problems described by the cited authors makeunderstandable the progress which now has become possible with the newmethod, increasing throughout of an aluminum foil plant by more than 40percent over conventional operation, at the same time drasticallyreducing the amount of scrap for rework.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge,readily adapt it for various applications without omitting featureswhich fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic andspecific aspects of our contribution to the art and. therefore, suchadaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within themeaning and range of equivalence of the claims.

What is claimed as new and desired bo be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims:

1. Apparatus for manipulating heavy commodities, especially convolutedbulky metallic band stock or the like. in a plant wherein thecommodities are treated at several stations of at least one productionline having a receiving end and a discharge end and being located at afirst level. comprising first and second commodity storing magazinesrespectively provided at said receiving and discharge ends of theproduction line, said production line also comprising a battery ofrolling mills and a depository for commodities adjacent to each of saidrolling mills; and a plurality of transporting devices arranged totransport the commodities between said magazines and to and from saidstations on at least one second level which is located above or belowsaid first level while holding said commodities against swinging so thatthey can be rapidly accelerated or decelerated. said transportingdevices including at least one lifting device movable along and at alevel below said rolling mills and arranged to deliver to saiddepositories commodities which are withdrawn from said first magazine.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim I, wherein said transporting devicesinclude a plurality of lifting devices.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim I, further comprising an intermediatecommodity magazine. said battery of rolling mills being disposed betweensaid first magazine and said intermediate magazine and said transportingdevices further including a vehicle arranged to transport commodities insaid intermediate magazine and means for transferring commodities fromsaid roll- 12 ing mills to said vehicle.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said means for transferringcommodities to said vehicle comprises a gantry crane and a liftingdevice for transfer of commodities from said rolling mills to saidcrane.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said production line furthercomprises a battery of cutting machines disposed between saidintermediate magazine and said second magazine, said transportingdevices further including a lifting device arranged to move at a levelbelow and alow said battery of cutting machines and to transfer toselected cutting machines commodities which are withdrawn from saidintermediate magazine.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein said second magazinecomprises means for supporting commodities which are mounted in racksand said transporting devices further include a vehicle for transportingracks into, in and from said second magazine.

7. Apparatus for manipulating heavy commodities, especially convolutedbulky metallic band stock or the like, in a plant wherein thecommodities are treated at several stations of at least one productionline having a receiving end and a discharge end and being located at afirst level comprising first and second commodity storing magazinesrespectively provided at said receiving and discharge ends of theproduction line; a plurality of transporting devices arranged totransport the commodities between said magazines and to and from saidstations on at least one second level which is located above or belowsaid first level while holding said commodities against swinging so thatthey can be rapidly accelerated or decelerated; and means for coolingthe commodities in at least one of said magazines.

1. Apparatus for manipulating heavy commodities, especially convolutedbulky metallic band stock or the like, in a plant wherein thecommodities are treated at several stations of at least one productionline having a receiving end and a discharge end and being located at afirst level, comprising first and second commodity storing magazinesrespectively provided at said receiving and discharge ends of theproduction line, said production line also comprising a battery ofrolling mills and a depository for commodities adjacent to each of saidrolling mills; and a plurality of transporting devices arranged totransport the commodities between said magazines and to and from saidstations on at least one second level which is located above or belowsaid first level while holding said commodities against swinging so thatthey can be rapidly accelerated or decelerated, said transportingdevices including at least one lifting device movable along and at alevel below said rolling mills and arranged to deliver to saiddepositories commodities which are withdrawn from said first magazine.2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said transporting devicesinclude a plurality of lifting devices.
 3. Apparatus as defined in claim1, further comprising an intermediate commodity magazine, said batteryof rolling mills being disposed between said first magazine and saidintermediate magazine and said transporting devices further including avehicle arranged to transport commodities in said intermediate magazineand means for transferring commodities from said rolling mills to saidvehicle.
 4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said means fortransferring commodities to said vehicle comprises a gantry crane and alifting device for transfer of commodities from said rolling mills tosaid crane.
 5. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said productionline further comprises a battery of cutting machines disposed betweensaid intermediate magazine and said second magazine, said transportingdevices further including a lifting device arranged to move at a levelbelow and alow said battery of cutting machines and to transfer toselected cutting machines commodities which are withdrawn from saidintermediate magazine.
 6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein saidsecond magazine comprises means for supporting commodities which aremounted in racks and said transporting devices further include a vehiclefor transporting racks into, in and from said second magazine. 7.Apparatus for manipulating heavy commodities, especially convolutedbulky metallic band stock or the like, in a plant wherein thecommodities are treated at several stations of at least one productionline having a receiving end and a discharge end and being located at afirst level, comprising first and second commodity storing magazinesrespectively proVided at said receiving and discharge ends of theproduction line; a plurality of transporting devices arranged totransport the commodities between said magazines and to and from saidstations on at least one second level which is located above or belowsaid first level while holding said commodities against swinging so thatthey can be rapidly accelerated or decelerated; and means for coolingthe commodities in at least one of said magazines.